MUMBAI, Feb 21 Reuters The Indian rupee39;s expected volatility against the dollar over the next one month hit its lowest level in almost seven months on Tuesday, tracking the currency39;s recent narrow trading range and on expectations of the central bank39;s continued support.

The rupee39;s onemonth atthemoney volatility was quoting at 4.504.80, near its lowest level since late July last year.

The slide in the OTC overthecounter volatility comes alongside a plunge in realized volatility measured in terms of the last ten days39; closing price to 2.2, its lowest this year.

The rupee initially sold off after a much betterthanexpected U.S. jobs report on Feb. 3. But, since then it has held in a narrow range of 82.35to82.90 with the Reserve Bank of India likely intervening to prevent the currency from weakening past 83.

The onemonth and nearterm vols volatility have seen the highest impact, said a derivatives trader at a private sector bank, declining to be named due to the bank39;s internal policies.

The rupee39;s expected nearterm volatility is the lowest among major Asian currencies.

The Indonesian rupiah39;s onemonth volatility is near 7.5, the offshore Chinese yuan39;s at 6, and at around 10 on the Thai baht and the Korean won.

Some market participants reckon the rupee39;s implied volatility mostly should be sold.

Rupee usually has been a short volatility trade as realised vols underperforms implied volatility, Ashutosh Tikekar, head of global markets,…